


Jacksepticdog

by ArteaCactus



Category: jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Blood, Dog Sean McLoughlin, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, SO, Sean and Mark are good friends, but theyre not together, chica almost falls off a bridge but its ok dw, chica henry and sean are also best dog buds, deal with it hes a german shepherd, i couldnt find a good enough pun for jacksepticeye and dog so, i just found out about her let me live, i made a strawpoll and when given the options irish setter and german shepherd my family chose gs, is Mika's last name Midgett, mark is lowkey Afraid, sean and mark are just FRIENDS, sean is Smart, sean is a german shepherd, temporary title, thats mark and amy, thats why theyre in relationships, yep thats what kinda fic this is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 18:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16837633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArteaCactus/pseuds/ArteaCactus
Summary: Sean makes a dumb, joking birthday wish to become a dog. He really didn't expect to wake up as one.





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> Soo I had this dumb idea out of nowhere, and Tumblr/Discord demanded I write it. So I did!
> 
> Can't guarantee consistent updates, or frequent ones. Comments are my biggest motivator! Send me ideas for future chapters and I may include them <3

“This isn’t fair. I didn’t get a party on my 29th birthday.” Mark complained, seated on the couch in Sean’s living room, watching Ethan, Mika, Tyler, and Pam fight each other on Mario Kart, all four of them sat on the floor, up close to the tv. Kathryn, Amy, and Robin cheered Mika and Pam on, urging the girls to ‘crush the gross boys’, in Robin’s words. 

Sean had come to L.A. once more, so he could celebrate his birthday surrounded by his friends there, and Robin tagged along with him. Mark had been kind enough to set up a whole party for him, surprising him when he walked into the house with it all decorated and a cake sat proudly on the table, Mark proudly claiming it to be made all by him (it still had the plastic container with the Wal-Mart sticker on it). 

Sean had laughed, and Mark served everyone chicken and dumplings (that he actually  _ did  _ make himself), and now they were having Mario Kart tournaments before giving Sean their gifts (that he still felt bad about taking, despite the occasion) and eating cake. 

“Mark,  _ you  _ were the one that set this up.” Sean’s lips quirked into a grin, “You should have hinted that you wanted one for you.”

“Good friends do it  _ without  _ being hinted.”

“You accusing me of being a shitty friend?” Sean raised a brow, hand creeping over to the pillow that was tucked into the couch neatly behind him, the movement completely missed by Mark.

“I mean,  _ no _ , but  _ yes- _ ” Mark was cut off as he was whopped in the face with a pillow, gasping over-dramatically as if Sean had committed a great offense, gaping at the giggling Irishman beside him.

“This means  _ war _ .” Mark stole the pillow away and was about to wallop Sean on the head with it, but before he could, it was stolen away from him.

“No fighting, kids.” Amy scolded, tossing the pillow away. “Sean, you have a lineup of gifts.”

“I still feel bad!” Sean exclaimed, pushing himself up from the couch before Mark could grab another pillow and hit him with it. 

“It’s your birthday! You’re supposed to get gifts!” Robin said, helping Ethan stack wrapped up gifts on the table, almost all of them wrapped in green paper (“We’re staying on brand with the green, here.” Ethan had said when Sean pointed it out).

“Not gonna stop me from feeling like I shoulda got everyone somethin’ in return.” Sean replied, slapping Ethan’s hand away from where he was furiously patting at the barstool for Sean to sit, taking a seat there.

“That’s not how birthdays work.” Mark snorted, shoving one of the green boxes into Sean’s hands. “I’m your favorite friend, so mine gets opened first.”

“How do you know that?” Sean teased, but he set the box down and started opening it up anyway. He felt slightly uncomfortable under the watchful eyes of his friends, but he managed to ignore it easily enough; he’d learned how to after having thousands of eyes on him at once, multiple times. 

The box was medium-sized, though a little flat, and when he ripped the paper off, he noticed that the lid was just one to slide off the box. He tossed the paper on the floor (he was gonna be cleaning the place when everyone left, anyway), and slid the lid off the box.

Sean immediately began to cackle, pulling up a dog collar and leash with Mark’s ‘M’s on it. “Mark, I’m not into the same kinky shit as you!”

“That’s not what that’s for!” Mark exclaimed, an uproar of laughter appearing at Sean’s comment. “You said you wanted to get a dog sometime soon, and I just had that laying around, so there’s a collar and leash for when you get a dog.”

“So I’m just not good enough to have somethin’ bought for me?” Sean grinned, his tone joking. “I see how ya are.”

Mark rolled his eyes, and almost instantly Robin slammed down a smaller, rectangular box, that was black with green, red, and blue little squares all over it, like glitches. 

“Now that we got the bad gift out of the way,” Robin started, ignoring Mark’s ‘Hey!’ at the insult (though he was laughing, too), “This one can actually be useful to you in the very near future.”

Sean quirked a brow, curious, and he was a little quicker to peel the wrapping back, finding a black box inside, also with a lid he could pull up. 

Sean removed the lid, and he grinned. “Ah, a murder weapon!” He chirped, pulling out a large knife with a dark wooden handle, ‘ASE’ carved into it in chicken scratch font. “Perfect to cut throats with!”

“I know what you’re referencing, but god that sounds so demented,” Kathryn commented, watching Sean set the knife delicately back into the box. 

He went through more gifts, one from everyone (and Mark got him another one, this one an  _ actual  _ bought gift and not something from his bedroom), and by the end of it, Sean had a massive sea of wrapping paper beneath his feet that he was dreading cleaning up.

“Cake time?” Ethan perked up after Sean set aside his final gift, and it triggered a chorus of “Cake!” from everyone else (including Sean), and Amy pulled out a kitchen knife from the silverware drawer and set it beside the large, square chocolate cake that said “Happy Birthday you old fart” in green frosting. “Who has the candles?”

“I got it!” Ethan shouted, almost knocking his chair over as he darted to the ‘miscellanious’ cupboard, pulling out twenty-nine individual green candles.

“Why so many?!” Sean exclaimed, watching Ethan, Amy, and Tyler neatly insert them into the cake. 

“We gotta match your age in candles, dude!” Ethan replied, “Mark, get the lighter!”

“Oh, my god,  _ don’t  _ give Mark the lighter, that’s a terrible idea.” Sean said, watching Mark flick the lighter on and cackle maniacally. “If this place burns down, it’s your fault for giving Mark the fire.”

“He’s not  _ that  _ stupid.” Amy smiled, patting Mark’s shoulder, ignoring his noise of protest at being called stupid. “Light em up.”

Sean watched the flame flicker as each candle lit up one by one, until the warm orange glow was spread across the entire cake, wax dripping into the frosting.

His friends started to sing ‘Happy Birthday’, letting Sean admire the look of the burning fire just a little longer, until they were finished and he had to blow the candles out.

“Make a wish.” Robin scooted the cake a little closer to Sean, and the Irishman let out an overdramatic hum, as if he were  _ really  _ thinking about what he wanted. 

He caught a glimpse of Chica from the corner of his eye, and just for shits and giggles, decided to make a joke wish. Not like they  _ actually  _ came true, right?

_ I wish I were a dog, just so I could have a break for once in my life. _

Sean blew out all the candles in one go, and laughed as Mark groaned. “There’s spit everywhere!”

“At least Tyler didn’t  _ gleek  _ all over it again.” Ethan cackled, emphasizing the word ‘gleek’ as if it were a made-up word. 

“Fair point.” Amy said as she pulled the candles out and let Mika cut the cake as Tyler stammered out excuses for his gleeking.

The next few hours were spent as the hours before; playing video games, eating, and making fun of each other.

A little past midnight, though, they were starting to leave, Ethan and Mika with Spencer first, followed by Tyler, Kathryn, Robin, then finally Mark and Amy with Henry and Chica, leaving Sean alone in the house. Thankfully, they all tried their best to clean up so Sean could just go straight to bed when they left, so all Sean had to do was put his gifts away in their own spots, and go to sleep. 

His head was starting to pound, it had been since Ethan, Mika, and Spencer left, throbbing in the top of his head and causing his ears to ring. The headache was steadily getting worse, so he popped some ibuprofen, shut all the lights off and padded off to his room, shutting his bedroom door and falling on the bed, shutting his eyes and happily sinking into the mattress, falling asleep within seconds. 

Somehow, he completely missed the black, furry lumps steadily growing out of the top of his head. 


	2. Chapter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sean wakes up as a dog, and proceeds to freak out a little bit.

Sean woke up the next morning to bright sunlight shining in his eyes, stretching his legs and yawning. The warm sun washed over his body, and there was a cool breeze caressing his face.

Wait.. Breeze? He didn’t remember opening the window before he went to bed..

Sean opened his eyes, and immediately knew something was wrong, considering he was outside, under a park bench. People all around him were walking past him, and didn’t bother even sparing him a glance. 

Surely it must be weird, to see a fully grown man napping in the mud, under a bench after it rained the day previous?

Stretching out his paws, he squeezed out from underneath the bench, and half-way out he froze.

Paws?

Sean dropped his gaze to look beneath him, and yelped in surprise when he found that, instead of legs supporting his human body, he was staring at four pitch black, furry paws.

What. The. Fuck.

He drew some attention at his yelp, but he was still mostly ignored, and it allowed him some time to panic. 

What the  _ fuck _ ? He was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to have paws. Or fur. And he was quite sure he was very much white-skinned, last time he checked. 

He fell asleep in his  _ bed _ , in his (temporary)  _ house _ , as a  _ human _ .

And he woke up under a  _ bench _ ,  _ outside _ , as a.. 

What was he?

He was pretty sure he was a dog, but he supposed cats had paws, too. And.. so did a lot of other animals, but those two seem the most obvious. They’re the ones mostly ignored when people see them outside. If he were like.. A fuckin bear or something, he wouldn’t have been so easily looked over.

Swiveling his head around, Sean searched for some form of reflection. Despite the fact there was rain the day before, there were no puddles, even if the ground was a bit moist. There were stores all over, though.

Sean padded away from the bench, unsteady on his feet as he was unused to walking on four legs (the panic still hadn’t quite set in yet, because really,  _ what the fuck _ ?). His ears instinctively went back when a police car drove by on the busy road, sirens blaring. His senses seemed to be turned up to eleven (he felt a bit like Spider-Man), hearing and smelling new things and getting overloaded with information all at once. He could hear voices everywhere around him, could hear the squirrels chattering above him in the trees, tossing shells of acorns onto the pavement of the sidewalks below. Could hear birds chirping and singing to each other. 

He could smell the stink of the road, the hundreds of different scents of the humans walking around, and the smell of the cars driving by. The most noticeable to him was the scent of food across the road, though perhaps that was just because he was hungry. 

Sean swept his gaze around him and found a store nearby, with large glass windows on the front that he could see the reflection bouncing off of.

He quickened his pace, trotting across the slight yellow grass beneath his feet -pads?- and exited the park, stumbling a few times, pausing just before the sidewalk. He hesitated, then slunk into the waves of people walking, weaving around them and getting closer to the store.

As he neared, his suspicions were confirmed. He stopped in front of the window (that seemed to be to a restaurant, not a store, if the heavy scent of food was anything to go by), and took in his new appearance.

He  _ was  _ a dog, like suspected. Large and weirdly muscular, but he supposed he wasn’t complaining. He had pitch black fur at first glance, but in the sun he noted that it was actually just a deep brown, and vibrant bright blue eyes. His ears were upright and pointed, and his muzzle was long and broad. Sean guessed he was a German Shepherd, but really, really dark. He had no collar or anything, so to anyone walking by, he must just appear as a stray. 

He opened up his mouth to yawn, and got distracted by his teeth- and then was hit by stronger smells than before, mostly coming from the food inside the restaurant in front of him.

He turned his head towards the front entrance of the place, and watched the door open, a couple walking out hand in hand, the scent of lasagna stuck to them both as they walked off. 

Sean felt his mouth water, drool dripping from his tongue onto the ground, and his stomach growled.

Now he was  _ really  _ hungry.

He turned away from the front window of the restaurant and padded down the short alleyway between buildings, towards the back of the restaurant. He could hear footsteps nearing the door in the back, and he stopped just before it, just in time for the door to open as one of the chefs inside were about to toss a perfectly good steak, irritation radiating off her (a shitty customer demanding better, he bet).

Sean felt a whine come from his throat, though he hadn’t intended on making the sound, and it caught her attention.

Instead of dumping it in the trash, like she’d obviously intended on, she hesitated before setting the plate down on the ground and letting Sean approach to eat it. 

Sean’s tail wagged out of his control, and he hardly thought about it before he gripped the steak between his teeth and pulled it up, tearing chunks off and eating it greedily. He had it gone within a minute, allowing the woman to take the plate and pull it back inside to wash. 

She closed the door, and Sean stood there for a moment.

He’d hardly even thought as he’d wandered back behind the restaurant and took the food from the lady. It was almost though hunger had set him on autopilot, and he’d just… acted like a dog, searching for something to keep him satisfied.

It was weird. He wasn’t sure he liked it or not.

His ears perked up, catching the sound of singing, and he snuck back out of the alleyway, following the sound out of sheer curiosity. He was choosing to procrastinate panicking about the fact he was  _ turned into a dog _ , occupying himself as much as possible before the shock of reality really set in.

He padded down the sidewalk again and ended up back in the park, where a family had set up a picnic in the spot he’d previously been napping near the bench.

They were singing happy birthday to a little girl, who was cuddling a plushie of a dog. She was singing along happily with them, and the song reminded Sean of the night previously, specifically the wish he’d made.

_ I wish I were a dog. _

Fucking damn it.

In all fairness, he didn’t know it would come true, like what the fuck? What sort of fucked-up-wish-magic was that? Wishes could come  _ true _ ?

Unwilling to open that particular can of worms right now, Sean sat on his haunches, tail thumping in the dirt. 

Main problem: he was a dog.

Solution unknown. He didn’t even know where to  _ start _ .

Sean let out a huff of breath. Time to spend the rest of his day having a crisis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I can't write Sean freaking out very well. I think his crisis is gonna happen between chapters so that I don't have to make y'all cringe through my shitty writing and explanations, lmfao. As you can probably tell, I like to rush through shit. Especially when I didn't plan them through very well.


	3. Chapter III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sean set out for food, and instead brought a lost child back to her mom. Why couldn't he just get a burrito when he wanted one?

After his crisis ended and Sean had panicked a sufficient amount, he decided he really had nothing to do now other than sit it out and wait for something to happen. Just deal with being a dog until he had an idea as to how to fix it. Following the wish theory, he’d probably have to deal with it for roughly a year. Until his next birthday, perhaps? Or whenever he could get another wish; if somehow he was lucky enough to see a shooting star, or catch the clock at 11:11, all that cliché shit. Something to maybe override his initial birthday wish.

Or perhaps there was no saving him and he was gonna be a dog til he died, living a significantly shorter life.

He didn’t like thinking about that, so he didn’t.

Of course, he also wasn’t content living as a damn stray, fur already covered in muck and grime, feeling heavy and sticky against his body. 

But at the same time, there was no way in hell he would be willing to live as an obedient little companion towards some stranger, either. 

Sean gazed at the setting sun, tail curled neatly around his paws as he sat on a bridge crossing over a crevice in the land, the smallest of rivers trickling through. He kept to the sidewalks, avoiding the cars driving by swiftly behind him, and also successfully keeping from the people walking by slinking under the benches when someone neared him. 

He wasn’t sure where he was, still. He’d wandered around further and ended up finding himself somewhere unknown. He wasn’t sure how to make his way back to where he’d began, seeming to have lost all sense of direction while in this body.

He wasn’t sure it was a safe idea to walk any further, though. Not until he learned his way around and was able to confidently retrace his steps using his powered-up sniffer. 

So, he squirmed his way beneath a bench, and curled up, tail covering his nose and providing a comfortable warmth over his muzzle as he let out a short breath and closed his eyes, a wave of exhaustion falling over him.

He was a dog, stuck in L.A., with no sense of direction, and absolutely no way of asking for help.

But, hey.

At least the view was pretty.

* * *

Sean woke up late the next morning, sun high in the sky, and for a minute he believed himself to be back at his house, his day as a dog simply one weird lucid dream.

Unfortunately, as he opened his eyes to get sprayed in the face with mud as a car drove by, he found that it was real.

Parting his jaws in a long yawn, Sean contemplated what he could do next.

Exploring was.. Out of the question. Like he’d realized previously, he really didn’t trust himself to find his way back to this spot, as his sense of direction was absolutely nonexistent. He could start figuring out how to use his nose to his advantage, but as he opened his mouth to let the scents flood through him, he was hit with the tangy reek of the road and the trash lining it, and he shut his jaws with a sharp ‘click’.

Absolutely not.

He  _ could  _ nose at some people for breakfast, he decided, after eyeing up someone with some fast-food product in hand. His stomach rumbled in agreement, and he wiggled his way from beneath the bench. 

Stretching, Sean’s fur rippled along his spine, and he was once again reminded of the fact he was utterly filthy.

Food wasn’t something hard to come by, but a bath? That might take a bit.

Weaseling his way through the whole new crowds of people in the sidewalks (why did he have to turn into a dog on the weekend? People were  _ everywhere _ ), Sean padded up to another bench that held a kind-looking young woman, who had three burritos stacked beside her.

He nosed at her knee to get her attention, and once she’d removed her earbuds, Sean let out the most pitiful whine he could muster, his gaze flickering towards the burritos. He tried to stretch his eyes wide in a pleading way, staring at the lady intently.

Unfortunately, though, she just gave him a sad smile and patted him on the head, putting her earbuds back on and resuming her actions on her phone.

Sean knew a lost cause when he saw it, and he huffed out a disappointed sigh, but moved on. He considered stealing one of the burritos, but ultimately just gave up on it. It was a Saturday, in Los Angeles. Surely he’d find something else?

After a moment of hesitation, Sean parted his jaws again, and tried to filter out the stink of the road and the overwhelming perfumes and colognes that hit his tongue, and instead tried to narrow in on the smell of  _ food _ . Something that would at least keep him going for the day.

It took a minute, but he eventually decided to give it up. There was just too much hitting him at once, he couldn’t single out one type of scent and follow it. That was something a dog learned over years of growth, Sean has only had a day.

He wandered aimlessly for a while, nosing at a few hands that held food, but got nothing more than a couple crumbs dropped for him to lick up. He’d stumbled upon a woman that seemed worried, frantically searching the crowds and calling out a name. Sean’d tried to help, but of course, he was shooed away. He only looked like a stray begging for attention, after all. 

Still, though, there was an uneasiness coiling in his gut, and he sniffed at the woman’s legs some before being sent away again.

She had some particularly strong (and rather gross-smelling) flowery lotion on, and it succeeded in standing out amongst the crowd. Lingering with that scent, was a soft, almost invisible vanilla, that almost certainly belonged to another human being.

Sean connected two and two together, and realized she must have been missing a child.

Alarm pricked at him, and his ears perked upright, alert. 

He may not be able to help much, but damn it, he was a dog with a nose. He might as well try to use it.

Unfortunately, he found that the smell of the roads and the clashing scents of humans bustling around him were quick to swamp his senses, and squash the hope he had for helping find someone.

Sean curled his lip in frustration, and shoved his nose into the ground, and almost immediately became rigid as he realized this was  _ totally  _ a better way of smelling shit.

He could zero in on the lady’s scent easier and follow it, because he didn’t have everything else that was swirling in the air mixed in. Of course, there was still the smells of other people, but  _ thankfully  _ she had worn such gross lotion that it could easily be picked apart from the others.

And so, Sean kept his nose to the pavement, and got to work.

He retraced the woman’s steps, swerving around some people who didn’t notice him, but most knew a dog on a mission when they saw it and kept out of his way. He almost lost it a few times, but eventually found himself nosing at the ground where the thick flowery smell and tint of vanilla parted ways. 

Changing directory, Sean nosed his way around to follow the lighter scent. This one was much harder to track, considering it wasn’t as strong, but there was still that tinge of flowery stench that helped him along. He felt like he was in a video game, and he was on a mission, he mused.

He found himself wandering not too far away from the original trail before the smell strengthened, and he lifted his gaze to find a lost little girl, gazing around helplessly and clutching a tiny bunny that was heavy with the flowery lotion the other woman had.

Target found.

Sean weaved his way around the people between him and the child, and he nosed at her hand. He was eye level to her, so it he had to lower his chest quite a bit to reach it, but it got her attention, and him keeping his body low had succeeded in not scaring her.

The child patted Sean’s ears, cautiously, and Sean nosed at her again. He angled his ears backwards, and he maneuvered himself around her, gently bumping her shoulder with his nose and trying to convey ‘ _ Follow me! _ ’ with a look.

“Hi, puppy.” The child whispered, and Sean let out a tiny little whine, tail swinging slowly behind him. 

How do people get kids to follow them? Especially when they can’t explicitly tell the kid to  _ follow them _ ?

Sean leaned down and, mentally whispering an apology, gripped the stuffed bunny between his teeth and effortlessly pulled it from her grip.

He immediately started moving, trying to push his way through the people and frantically make his way back to the woman, and with a quick glance behind him, found that the child was quickly following him, shouting at him for taking her bunny.

Sean wasn’t able to follow his nose this time, since he had the toy in his mouth that shrouded his senses in the scent he’d been following, so he had to rely purely on memory, staring at the faces of the people and buildings he’d passed and occasionally glancing back to make sure the child was still on his tail.

He didn’t have to walk long, though, as apparently the lady had also been retracing her steps, and he perked up instantly.

He quickened his padding to a trot, and, making sure the child was still there, made his way up to the woman, bumping his head into her knee and dropping the toy at her feet.

Thankfully, she stopped, reaching down the pick up the bunny, gaping at Sean as if he’d done something remarkable, and a sharp cry of joy coming from the girl finding her guardian made Sean beam.

He’d done something good! He saved a little girl and brought her back to her guardian! Perhaps it wasn’t anything too astounding, but Sean was happy to take the accomplishment. He’d successfully used his nose!

Tail wagging, Sean gladly accepted the sudden hug the little girl gave him (even if she was getting mud all over her overalls), and the head pat from the woman made him feel warm. 

Watching them walk off hand in hand left him feeling happy. He had a new spring in his step as he padded off to find something to eat and drink, the sun now beating down on his thick black fur and making him feel hot. 

Sean found a bowl of water outside a store easily enough (plenty of places left them out for dogs, especially in the summer, after all), but food was another thing.

Some people who were walking their own dogs stopped to give him a treat (he didn’t expect dog biscuits to taste as good as they did), but he was having no luck in finding anything that had actual sustenance within his area of the bench he’d spent the night under. 

Before long, the sun had set once more, and the stars were peaking out one by one in the sky. The activity and crowds had lessened some, but there were still plenty of people out and about. 

He managed to weasle a few hot dogs out of a family barbeque after he nosed his way into a park and successfully used his puppy eyes to get the man cooking to hand him two whole hot dogs, and he’d gladly carried them over to a tree, where he ate quickly and messily, his stomach yearning for more, yet he knew the man wasn’t gonna be giving him anything else. 

So, after the moon had begun to climb, Sean slid back under his dirty bench, and curled up once more. He wasn’t sure what tomorrow would bring, but as he settled his aching muscles, he hoped it wasn’t gonna be anymore rescue missions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a filler chapter, hope ya don't mind. I don't want to immediately hop into the major timeskips or right into Mark stumbling upon him, but I don't have many ideas, so that may just be what comes next, lol. After all, there's not much I can do with Sean the dog as he is currently; a stray.
> 
> Thank you for your comments and kudos, btw!! They mean a lot to me <3


	4. Chapter IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saturdays seem the time for rescue missions, as Sean's yet again trying to rescue a dog from falling off the edge of a bridge. Really, Mark, keep a better hold on Chica!

The next few days followed similarly, minus the  _ ‘reuniting-children-with-their-parents _ ’ thing, with Sean struggling to find a bit of food and mostly filling up on water (but he got a lot of head pats!), and before he realized it, a whole week had passed, and he was only just getting the hang of the whole  _ dog  _ thing.

His nose was still something he struggled with, but he was getting better, and he quickly discovered how to tune shit out by angling his ears a certain way. 

He also realized he couldn’t really answer the question on whether or not dogs are really colorblind, considering he himself was colorblind, but whatever.

Sean found himself the next Saturday morning having a relatively good day.

An elderly couple had passed by and were more than happy to give him an entire burger, he found the bowl of water outside the store freshly refilled and was able to get to it before any other dog did, and three people had given him dog biscuits while walking their own.

He was back at his bench and more than prepared to have another nap, when his ears perked up and he caught wind of a very familiar voice.

“... do that, Chica. Y’hear me? Gotta stay next to papa Mark.”

Sean lifted his head so fast he forgot he was under a bench, just barely biting down a yelp when he bashed his head against the bottom of the wooden bench, a throbbing headache quickly forming. 

He hardly paid any mind to it, though, and he watched his friend walk his golden retriever down the sidewalk opposite of him, cars swiftly driving by and breaking his view of them. 

Suddenly, he was faced with an option, and he felt like Connor, almost seeing the decisions in front of his eyes. Perhaps he could be Sumo…  _ Damn it, Sean, not the time. _

Sean shook himself, and he thought. Does he run across the street and try to get Mark’s attention, or does he stay and continue living like this?

On one hand, he wasn’t sure Mark would even pay any mind to him. He was just a dirty, smelly stray, after all.

On the other, he wasn’t sure he could stand living another day wondering when his next meal was gonna be. 

Sean, after a moment of hesitation, decided to follow them for a bit. If he couldn’t bring himself to confront Mark, then maybe he’d be able to follow him home, and figure out his next move from there.

Squirming out from beneath the bench, Sean waited for a big enough break in traffic, and darted across, his legs pushing him across with a powerful push of speed that took him by surprise and almost caused him to stop in his tracks. He hadn’t actually tried running full speed before, and the power in his legs was shocking. He was quick to shake it off, however, and he swerved around people as he tried to catch up to Mark and Chica, keeping himself just a little bit behind them, so that he wouldn’t be noticed, but so he could still keep an eye on them.

Sean contemplated what he was going to do, while he followed them across the bridge. Or rather, he was starting to, when he had no choice but to act.

Mark and Chica had to press themselves to the edge of the bridge as a particularly large group of people passed, Chica’s leash stretched out quite a bit, a large distance between her and Mark. Mark didn’t seem too bothered; Chica was well-mannered enough, she wouldn’t tackle anyone or anything.

But then a loud, piercing honk from a semi somewhere ahead came out of nowhere, and it startled Chica enough that she ripped herself from Mark’s hold, and booked it. Mark yelled out in surprise and ran after her, but Sean, in this form, was faster.

Bunching up his muscles, Sean sprang forward, pelting past Mark and hunting down Chica, eyes narrowed in focus as he weaseled around people. His fur stood on end as he heard Chica’s sudden cry; she tripped over herself, and just before reaching safe ground at the end of the bridge, she slipped through the railings and clung to the edge of the bridge. 

Her hind legs churned helplessly in the air, front paws scrabbling at the road as she frantically tried to save herself, tried pulling herself up back on the sidewalk, but her movement was making her slip faster.

She was going to fall, and Sean wasn’t sure how likely it was she’d live it.

Of course, there was no way in  _ hell  _ Sean was about to let that happen. He skidded up to her, his pads scraping against the hard pavement and burning raw, but he forced himself to ignore it.

He craned his neck over the edge, somehow managing to fit it through the railings as Chica had, and he gripped her scruff between his teeth.

He clung to her, tasting blood with how hard he clamped down, and he  _ pulled _ , tugging as hard as he could to hoist her up to her feet, or at the very least trying to help her get a foothold so she could lift  _ herself  _ up.

Chica whimpered, whether it was in fear or pain from his hold, Sean didn’t know, but she seemed to recognize he was trying his hardest to help her, and she tried her best, too, and together they’d managed to keep Chica held up long enough for Mark to come and grab her by the sides, pulling her the rest of the way up.

Chica was shaken, that much was obvious, even without the intense fear-scent clinging to her fur. Her tail was tucked between her legs, and she kept nervously glancing at Mark and Sean.

She was okay, though, and Sean let himself breathe out in relief. She was  _ okay _ .

Chica seemed to realize what Sean had done for her, too, and she pushed her muzzle right up against his, licking his face despite the dirt and grime clinging to his fur. Sean allowed it, because he, too, was relieved that he’d managed to help her.

Some of the fear-scent, Sean noticed, wasn’t radiating from her, but from Mark, too, and he shared their relief that Chica was okay, he noted. 

Mark put his hand on Sean’s head, and despite the fleas and mud, threaded his fingers in his fur and gave him an affectionate rub.

“God, you really came outta nowhere, huh?”

Sean was never more grateful that Mark liked to talk to animals

He nosed his way up to him, tail swinging weakly. Maybe Mark would be willing to take him.  _ Maybe _ . He could at least give him some food, right? A bath, possibly? Unlikely, but Sean was optimistic.

“You sure were hell-bent on saving Chica. Thanks, bub.”

_ No, no, don’t leave! _

Sean let out the most heart-wrenching whine possible, and he made himself shiver (which wasn’t hard, the knowledge that Chica almost fell to her death was enough to do that). He sucked in his breath to try and make his skinny frame as obvious as possible.  _ Maybe  _ if he looked like the most pathetic being in existence, Mark  _ might  _ take pity on him.

“Oh, you’re so thin..” Mark frowned, and Sean almost jumped in joy as Mark bit his lip, a contemplative look in his eyes.

He was  _ considering  _ it.

Sean felt a nose against his sides, and he turned his head to find Chica sniffing at his fur. He was dirty and itchy and covered in fleas, and yet she still got close enough to him to nuzzle him, as if trying to bring him comfort.

Wow, both Chica  _ and  _ Mark were utter softies when it came to those in need.

“.. Amy’s not gonna like me for this,” Mark muttered under his breath after a minute, and he stood. “Hey, buddy, why don’t we go back to my house, get you some food and maybe a bath?”

_ Mark Edward Fischbach, you are an absolute godsend _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of pushing the fic along a little too fast, sorry haha
> 
> I wasn't gonna update so soon after the last one, but I'm just so eager to get stuff out that I can't help it
> 
> Hope you enjoy!


	5. Chapter V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dog food didn't taste the best, but it was better than nothing. And who knew his fur was so sleek and shiny under all the dirt!

Sean found himself seated in Mark’s van not too long later, bunched up on the floor with his tail curled tight around him. He didn’t want to get anything too dirty, after all, and despite Mark urging him to go up on the cushion in the back, stayed on the floor and touched as few things as possible while Chica sat between the front seats in front of him.

His tail was harder to keep still, as it tried wagging out of pure joy multiple times before Sean could stop it. It seemed it was working with it’s own damn brain, because it still trembled while he kept it down, paws holding it that way.

He never thought he’d be so damn happy to be in this van.

Turns out, he was  _ really  _ far from Mark’s place, and he was just super lucky to end up here, where Mark had decided to walk Chica today. Why Mark wanted to walk Chica so far from the house, he didn’t know, but he was more than happy that he did.

They were in the van for little over a half hour before Mark pulled in to his house, parking the van and sidling out of his seat. He walked around the van, pulling the doors open, Sean hopping out first as he was the closest, and Chica quick to follow.

“Amy’s not home with Henry yet..” Mark hummed, holding Chica’s leash tightly as he walked up the path to the front door, Sean close behind. The man was probably still shaken by what happened on the bridge, Sean guessed as he eyed Mark’s white-knuckled grip on Chica’s leash, though the dog also didn’t seem too keen on running off again, keeping close to Mark’s legs and almost tripping him as he got to the door.

Mark unlocked and opened the door and finally released the leash as they went inside, Sean suddenly very aware of the light-colored  _ everything  _ and the black muck clinging to his fur. He really should have shaken himself outside, he was starting to get itchy.

Sean looked around at the walls, struggling to find a clock, something to tell him what time it was as Mark poured some food in Chica’s food bowl (and God, that sound made him yearn to eat, but he knew he most definitely would not be welcome shoving his nose into Chica’s bowl). He successfully found a clock, and he almost groaned out loud upon realizing it was only eight in the morning. Why was Mark walking Chica this early?

“Hey, you want some food?” Mark’s voice caught Sean’s attention, and he perked up, pulling himself to his feet and following Mark as he walked into the kitchen, where he pulled out a bowl and dumped some of Chica’s food into it.

Sean wasn’t exactly too keen on eating  _ dog  _ food, but he supposed he  _ was  _ a dog, and he wasn’t gonna start being fussy now, especially when he finally had access to some food.

Despite the painful hunger jabbing at his stomach, when Mark put the bowl on the floor, Sean sniffed at it carefully and ate slowly. The pellets were bland and chewy, and some part of him gagged at having to eat dog food, but the hunger gnawing at him was enough motivation to keep eating and finish the bowl. 

When the bowl was empty, though, Sean found he felt bad just leaving the dirty, empty plastic dish sitting on the floor, despite the fact he wasn’t exactly expected to pick up after himself, being an animal.

Still, though, Sean gripped the ridged edges of the bowl between his teeth, and hoisted himself up on his hind legs, front paws on the counter as he delicately set the bowl in the sink. Satisfied with what he’d done, he sat himself back on the ground and turned his body, intent on leaving the kitchen, but instead finding himself looking at Mark, who was gaping at him openly, as if he had grown two heads.

What? What did he do? Sean cocked his head to the side, silent question aimed at Mark, and watched the man let out a breathless, shocked laugh.

“You really are somethin, huh? Saving my dog from a ledge, now doing the dishes?”

Oh. 

Yeah, he supposed a dog putting its bowl back in the sink when finished eating wasn’t normal behavior.

Although.. Perhaps he could somehow tell Mark he  _ wasn’t _ really a dog, somehow?

.. Nah, he wasn’t smart enough to figure it out.

“You need a bath.” Mark’s voice cut through his thoughts, and the pure relief he felt made his pelt feel lighter already. Sure, whatever, Mark was gonna give him a rub-down, but hey, he’s not human anymore, so it’s not as weird as it could be. 

Mark gestured for Sean to follow him, and he did, padding after the man that still radiated shock, his own fur twitching in response to it. Mark turned on the bathroom light, walking towards the tub and sitting at the edge, turning the water on and letting it fill the bath some.

Sean, more impatient to get the damn itching to  _ stop _ , made his way over to the bath and clambered in, awkwardly stepping over the edges of the tub and standing in the water. It swamped his fur and his paws felt thick and heavy where they were being soaked in the water, but the itching ceased, so Sean decided he didn’t mind that much.

Mark let out another incredulous chuckle, but got to work anyway, grabbing the detachable hose and letting the water spray over Sean’s body, weighing him down even more as his fur got wetter. He watched the dirt and grime wash away into the drain, water dripping down his face and getting into his nose. 

He felt something cool hit him, and he angled his head back to find Mark pouring flea shampoo on his back, squirting a rather generous amount on his body (fair, his fur was really thick and he was quite disgusting), then digging his fingers in and scratching at him as he washed him clean.

Sean could have fallen over in relief as Mark scratched at him as he worked shampoo into his body, muck getting onto his fingers, but he didn’t seem to mind. It was hard to see where the majority of fleas were and where to scratch them out considering his fur was black, but as Mark rinsed shampoo from his body, he watched hundreds of fleas fall into the water and get washed away in the drain. Mark repeatedly washed and rinsed the parts of his body that itched the most until there were no longer any more fleas washing away, and the water being rinsed from him was clear, no longer colored black from the muck.

Mark put the hose back up, and Sean became overwhelmed with the urge to shake his fur.

Sean didn’t, though, dealing with the new itchy feeling of water soaking his fur as Mark stepped out of the tub, and he followed, water draining out.

Sean dug his claws into the little floor mat as Mark pulled out a towel and rubbed him dry, choosing to deal with the itchiness for now, and hope to whatever higher power there was that Mark wouldn’t use the puff-n-fluff on him.

Mark seemed a little wary, and Sean knew it was because he was just waiting for Sean to shake out his fur like Chica does during her baths, and though he desperately wanted to, he kept still, tail swinging lazily behind him.

When Mark put the towel up, Sean couldn’t help but nose at the hair dryer on the counter. He didn’t wanna just wait and air dry, the itchiness was unbearable.

Mark quirked a brow. “You want me to dry you?” He asked, a tinge of amusement in his tone, grabbing the hair dryer and plugging it into the wall. He turned it on, the sudden loud noise taking Sean by surprise and making his ears instinctively swivel back to muffle the sound, but he didn’t run like Mark clearly expected, and he instead sat down patiently, waiting for Mark to dry him.

“Wow, you are a pampered little thing, huh?”

_ Little? _ Sean would have scoffed if he could. He was a German Shepherd dog, there was no way in hell that  _ little  _ could be a word used to describe him.

Regardless, Mark put the dryer to his fur, and Sean sat still as Mark blow-dried his body.

He wasn’t used to having clean fur, now, and the silky smoothness of it took him by surprise, but it wasn’t a bad one. His body felt feather-light and he left the bathroom feeling fresh when Mark was done. 

“I don’t think you’ve gone outside the whole time.” Mark hummed, and he called out for Chica, leading the two dogs to the front door. “Let’s see if you’re potty trained or not.”

Sean felt a little insulted that Mark would think he  _ wasn’t _ , but whatever, he was a dog, he supposed it was understandable. As Mark opened the door to let them out, Sean followed behind Chica, unaware of the spots he was allowed to pee and where he wasn’t.

Sean felt a little awkward, with Mark’s eyes on him as he was eliminating, but forced himself to ignore it. Dog, not human. This was probably way less weird for him, since he was under the impression he was housing a stray  _ dog _ .

Sean could feel the pleasure coming off Mark in waves as he and Chica padded back into the house, and some part of him was glad, because he knew the stress Mark would be under if he ended up having to potty train an adult dog between recording times.

Speaking of recording times.

“I gotta go record, Chica, you keep the new buddy occupied.” He cooed to the Golden Retriever, patting Chica’s head affectionately before turning around and walking off, going into his recording room and shutting the door. 

Sean felt a little lost, now, unsure of what to do without Mark there to tell him what he could and couldn’t do, but Chica seemed pretty intent on taking a nap, as she padded over to her bed beside the couch and laid down on it.

Exhaustion hit him hard as he watched her, and he realized that yeah, a nap was totally in order.

Sean hesitated, before walking over near Chica. Not directly next to her, but close enough so they could keep an eye on each other and Sean wasn’t in the way, and he curled up on the hard floor, eyes shutting as his body weighed down with the heaviness of sleep.

This was much, much better in comparison to the dirty sidewalks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My last pre-written chapter, haha. Now time to slave away at chapter six!
> 
> Thank y'all so much for the comments, they mean a lot <3


	6. Chapter VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dogs can talk, Mark's missing Sean, and Amy is the only mature one in the household.

Sean woke up a while later to hushed voices, and his ears twitched, opening his eyes.

He expected to see Mark and Amy talking, hearing distinctly male and female voices, but instead found himself staring, slack-jawed, at Henry and Chica, who were.. Speaking to each other.

Their mouths didn’t move, but somehow, Sean could  _ hear  _ them talk. They were actually forming  _ English words _ .

This was.. Freaky. And very, very unbelievable. If he hadn’t been able to feel the burn in his paw pads from scraping them on the road when he’d saved Chica, he would have thought he was dreaming.

How could they be conversing? Better yet, how could he understand them? He wasn’t even sure how they were speaking. Their lips didn’t move. Their mouths weren’t open. And yet somehow they were talking as if they were people.

“He’s awake,” Henry nodded his head towards Sean, and Chica swiveled around to see him. Sean’s skin crawled. He didn’t know why he found this so creepy. 

Chica padded over towards Sean, lowering her head to sniff at his pelt, and Sean forced himself not to squirm away from her prodding nose. He didn’t know why he was suddenly so unsettled by this, but he surely didn’t like it. It was even worse that he didn’t know how to respond.

Even weirder was their voices. Henry’s was light, but very clearly male, and he had anxiety in his tone, though somehow Sean expected it. The dog was a very, very nervous boy.

Chica’s was a bit stronger, and surprisingly gruff (though still obviously female). Sean didn’t know what he’d imagined Chica’s voice to be like, but it wasn’t that. Perhaps it was because she was older, or something-

“Did you hear me?” Chica interrupted his thoughts, her tail swinging lazily behind her.

How does he answer?

He knew how to whine, bark, all that jazz. But not how to  _ talk _ .

So he just shook his head slowly. No, he really hadn’t heard what Chica had said. Right now, he was a bit caught up in trying to figure out how he  _ could  _ hear what Chica said.

“I asked, what’s your name?”

That’s.. A little harder to say without using his voice.

He tried to figure out how they were doing it, because they certainly weren’t opening their mouths, so they weren’t barking at each other. Sean felt silly trying to ‘think’ it to them. 

“Are you mute?” Henry timidly asked, and Sean, once again, shook his head. No, he spoke a little too much, but he didn’t know  _ how  _ to in this form.

“Then why aren’t you talking?” Chica gave him a curious look, her big brown eyes staring into his soul, and Sean forced himself to look away uncomfortably, instead staring around the house. What could he use..

.. Hey, Mark still had the framed photo of him he gave him as a joke one year!

Sean pulled himself to his feet, padding over to the picture on the coffee table while trying not to trip over his paws, still a little clumsy from sleep.

He grabbed the picture between his teeth and brought it back over to Chica and Henry, putting it on the floor and pointing at it with his paw.

“That’s Jack. Dad talks about him a lot.” Chica tilted her head, “What about him?”

Slight amusement washed over him at the admission that Mark talks about him a lot, and he raised his paw, lightly tapping the picture.  _ It’s me! _

Poor Henry looked confused beyond belief. “What are you doing?”

Frustration prickled at Sean’s pelt, and he tapped the photo more. 

“Is your name Jack?” Chica questioned, and Sean paused.

Yes, but no. He  _ was  _ Jack.

“No, no, it can’t be. He’s a stray, how’d he know that he and Jack have the same name?” Henry frowned.

Sean couldn’t help but curl his lip a bit, feeling a little insulted, despite it being a logical question.

_ I  _ am  _ Jack! My name’s Sean!  _ He  _ is  _ me _! _

“Hey, pups, what’re you doin’?”

Sean looked up as Mark came walking in, ears perking up. He wished he were human, so he could tease him about what Chica and Henry revealed to him.

“Oh, you have my picture of Sean. Silly pup.” Mark chuckled, picking up the framed photo from under Sean’s feet and staring at it in his hand for a minute, a wave of melancholy washing over him, and Sean’s nose twitched at the bitter scent. Why did he get sad looking at his picture?

“He went missing a week ago. No one knows where he is, or what happened to him.” Mark sighed, worry in his eyes, and Sean’s tail drooped.

Oh.

Then, he perked up.

_ I’m right here, Mark! I’m fine! I’m safe! I’m a dog, not dead! Not missing! Just a little confused! _

Sean butted his head against Mark’s hip, letting out a whine.  _ I’m okay! You saved me! _

Mark didn’t understand, though, letting out a saddened chuckle and patting Sean’s head. “Guy’s literally got millions of people actively looking for him. I can only hope he’s safe.”

Sean felt a prickle of guilt, ashamed that in the week he’d been a dog, he never thought of how his sudden disappearance would affect any of his friends and fans. He whined again.  _ I  _ am  _ safe, Mark. _

Unfortunately, the message didn’t get across, and Mark put the picture back on the coffee table.

Not on his watch.

Sean walked over to the picture, nosing at it and tapping it repeatedly with his paw.  _ It’s me! Mark! _

“You really like that picture, huh?” Mark raised a brow, vague amusement in his tone, “Sean’s even got dogs swooning over him.” The words came out in a teasing manner, and Sean’s tail lashed irritably.

“Mark! I’m right here! I’m Sean! I’m safe!” He cried, though of course, no words formed, it was merely a small, frustrated howl. He missed Chica and Henry’s ears perking in interest.

“You’re even loud like him. I’m gonna name you Jack.”

Sean’s fur spiked a bit, though flattened when Amy came walking into the room, catching the tail end of Mark’s words.

“We’re  _ not  _ keeping him.”

“But Amy!” Mark and Sean both whined, though it came out as an  _ actual  _ whine from Sean.

Amy smiled, but shook her head. “No, Mark, you told me you weren’t gonna name him and weren’t gonna get attached.”

“That was a Markiplier Promise.” Mark replied, “He’s cute. He does the dishes. Doesn’t shake after baths. He’s a smart boy, Amy. A good boy.”

“‘He does the dishes.’” Amy repeated disbelievingly. 

“He does!” Mark insisted, scurrying off to the kitchen, Amy and Sean following after him.

Mark grabbed Sean’s dirty food dish from the sink and put it back on the floor. “C’mon, put it back in the sink.”

Sean sat down, giving Mark a dirty look. _ Do I look like a fuckin’ butler to you?  _

Sean’s deadpan expression of pure ‘fuck you’ made Amy double over laughing, watching Mark’s face fall as he realized the dog most certainly wasn’t gonna pick up the dish that  _ Mark  _ put on the floor.

“Jack. Buddy. C’mon. We gotta prove to Amy you can stay.”

_ Not gonna do that by cleaning up your messes, Fischbach. _ Sean snorted, rising to his feet and leaving the kitchen with a flick of his tail, ignoring the affronted noise from Mark and intensifying laughter from Amy.

“Th-That was the best ‘fuck you’ I’ve ever seen a dog give,” Amy gasped, clutching her stomach, holding onto the counter to keep herself held upright.

“Jaaack.” Mark whined, watching the dog merely lay back down on the floor with a heavy ‘thud’. “I promise, he did it. He picked it up and he put it in the sink. Amy, stop laughing! It’s true!”

“Mark, you haven’t slept in three days. Please, forgive me if I can’t take this seriously.”

Sean whipped his head up as soon as he heard Amy’s breathless comment, and he growled, climbing to his feet once more and stomping over to Mark. There was no way in  _ hell  _ he was going to let Mark stay awake another second. Mark needed  _ sleep _ , and Sean was going to sit on him until he  _ got  _ sleep.

The sudden movement silenced Amy, and she and Mark watched in silent amusement as Sean padded over. He took them both by surprise as he gripped Mark’s sleeve with his teeth, and growled as he tugged at him, forcing him to follow wherever Sean moved. Amy was radiating disapproval, and Sean realized it seemed he was being aggressive.

_ It’s not my intention, I promise, I’m trying to get your moron of a boyfriend into bed! _

They didn’t stop him, though, because rather than tugging just to play, Sean was leading Mark down the hall, and their curiosity stopped them from removing his teeth from Mark’s sleeve. Sean, thankful the door was open, pulled Mark into his bedroom, and let go of his sleeve, instead using his head to shove at his hip until Mark was fully backed against the bed. 

Sean bumped himself against his knees, urging Mark on top of the bed, and Mark lifted his feet so that he was fully sat on the bed, and Sean sniffed in satisfaction, grabbing the blankets, that were bunched up at the end of the bed, and tugged them until they came up and covered Mark’s body the best he could manage.

Sean sat down, staring intently at Mark, growling at him when he tried getting out of bed, leaving Mark with no choice but to lay down and nap.

Mark turned his triumphant gaze to Amy, who was gawking at them from the doorway.

“I fuckin’ told you he was smart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't even written chapter seven yet and already posting six. I've had this since finishing chapter five andI can't wait any longer to post haha


	7. Chapter VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sean sleeps most of the day, and gains a new level of respect for Amy.

After Mark finally fell asleep, Sean padded out of the bedroom, closely followed by Amy. He could tell the girl was a little wary around him now, though she had a fair reason to be. Freakishly smart canines weren’t the most comforting thing to some people.

Plus, she was smart. Mark was not.

She might suspect something.

Sean couldn’t really find himself disliking that idea. He needed someone _else_ to know! He didn’t want to be a dog forever, and maybe if he had someone else’s help, he could figure out how to fix this!

Amy entered the living room with Sean right behind her, and she sat on the couch, patting Henry on the head and cooing to him. Sean grabbed a hold of the framed picture yet again, putting it on the ground in front of him, and looked at it, studying the image.

The frame was dumb, brown and made of rubber with a reindeer face on it, antlers coming out of the top. The image itself was even worse, a picture of Sean from the year previous in it, with equally dumb reindeer antlers on his head and doing his usual ‘selfie’ pose with his hand over his face. The lighting was shit, and he had a santa sweater on, and in the background was a poorly photoshopped picture of a deer.

It was meant to be a shitty Christmas gift that Mark could throw away, but something in Sean felt warm and happy that Mark actually kept it around.

“You really like that picture, huh?” Amy hummed, and Sean lifted his head to find her smiling at him gently. Sean lowered his head a bit, letting out a soft whine, but was otherwise silent. He missed being a person. He couldn’t hug anyone and it _sucked_.

“C’mere,” Amy patted the spot next to her, where Henry wasn’t sitting, so Sean delicately took the picture between his teeth again and set it back neatly on the coffee table, before jumping up next to Amy, letting out a soft sigh, leaning against her side slightly.

“You’re a sad boy, aren’t you?” Amy ran her fingers down Sean’s back, “C’mon, you can lay on me.”

Sean gratefully folded his legs, laying down with his head on Amy’s lap. He’s always really liked Amy, she was funny and sweet, and always seemed to know the right things to say to make people feel better. Now, though, he held an even higher level of appreciation for her. He knew she couldn’t possibly understand, but it still felt like he had some form of support.

Amy carded her fingers through Sean’s fur, and he shut his eyes gratefully, enjoying the feeling of being pet.

“You’re a strange little puppy,” Amy hummed, “But you’re cute. And you’re really, really smart.. Putting Mark to bed is a feat even I can’t accomplish some days.”

If Sean could laugh, he would’ve, because he knew well how hard it was. He’d tried it before, after Mark had been up for almost seventy-three hours and he was starting to see things. He’d grabbed Mark by the arm and hauled him off to bed, and even still, Mark had gotten up and posted some sleep-deprived tweets before he was caught yet again and had to have Sean in the room with him so he knew Mark was sleeping.

Fortunately, Mark wasn’t able to resist dogs, so Sean was able to accomplish the seemingly impossible task.

Sean opened up his eyes to look up at Amy, tail lazily thumping against the couch.

Amy stared back at him, and the fur along his spine bristled.

She had a suspicious look in her eye, and she kept glancing over at the picture on the coffee table of their mysteriously missing friend.

“Just between you and me, I’m gonna go out on a limb here, and say you’re not just a dog, huh?”

Sean perked up, beaming at Amy, his tail wagging harder. _Yes, yes! It’s me! I don’t know how this happened, but it did! Help me, please!_

Amy tilted her head, then laughed. “Look at me, talking to a dog. It’s been hours, you guys hungry?”

Sean frowned, and dropped his head down on the cushions when Amy stood up to feed them again. He was so close. Though, of course Amy wouldn’t think this was the case.. Who the hell would look at a dog and say, “Hey, you’re pretty smart, you must be a human trapped in a dog body!”?

Chica and Henry padded off to follow Amy into the kitchen, leaving Sean alone on the couch to stare at the picture

The coffee table itself was a cluttered mess, and the picture was just one of the things in the midst of the chaos, but it didn’t make it mean any less to him. He honestly felt surprised to see it there, and the fact Mark clearly had some form of attachment to it made Sean feel warm. He wished he had thought about his friends and fans in the middle of his panic before he found Mark, because it may have motivated him to find someone much faster than he had.

He smelled the sharp tang of sadness clinging to Mark’s skin, and Amy seemed to deflate a little every time she looked at it.

Oh, God, Sean could only imagine what his fans felt like; the ones that relied on him and his videos for happiness.

He felt sick, strong guilt gnawing at his stomach. He didn’t even _remember_ them until now and it made him feel so _awful_.

He didn’t realize he was whining til Amy came walking back over, kneeling beside him and scratching his ears. “Aww, baby, why’re you so sad?” She cooed softly, gently stroking his heaving sides.

Sean let out another strangled whine, pushing his face into Amy’s hand. Hell, he wanted to hug someone so bad right now. He wanted to go and comfort Mark, realizing that to him, this seemed like one of his best friends had just vanished, no trace left behind as to where he went or what happened to him.

God, if that had happened to Robin, or Ethan, or Mark himself, Sean really would have no idea what he’d do.

“Oh, sweetie,” Amy’s sudden surprise made him pull away from her, and he realized his fur was getting wet around his eyes.

He was crying.

He didn’t know dogs could cry, didn’t know if it was something unique to him considering his previous status as _human_ , but frankly, he just couldn’t find it in himself to care. The sudden realization of the terribleness of the situation weighed him down, and he couldn’t even make himself surprised by the new things that happened to him anymore.

Amy stood up, and Sean found himself being gently pulled off the couch, which he did so slowly, paws loudly thumping on the ground, sounding as if he really was as heavy as he felt.

Amy grabbed underneath his arms, and pulled him up so that his front paws were resting atop her shoulders, and he felt only a moment of confusion before she wrapped her arms securely around him and he was being held in a hug.

A weird one, he’ll admit, dog hugs were a bit awkward, but Sean needed it at the moment, so he really didn’t care.

He pressed his wet face into Amy’s neck, his ears twitching as her breath ghosted over them, and he let out another low whine.

He felt hopeless. Utterly useless, and like he had little to no control over his situation. He was afraid, because what if that was it? His birthday party would be the very last time he’d be a human? What if he were to die in little over ten years, because he would be a dog until his final breath?

The question ‘would anyone even know he’s gone’ was already answered for him. Within a week, Mark was already incredibly saddened by his disappearance, and apparently, every one of his subscribers were frantically searching high and low for him.

He just wanted to be human, now, reassure everyone that he was okay. Nothing bad happened to him. He was safe and sound here, with Mark and Amy.

A nose nudging at his tail drew him away from his thoughts, and he swept his tail over the prodding face of Chica, who was looking up at him in concern.

“C’mon, doggy cuddles,” Amy cooed softly, letting Sean fall back on his feet and be surrounded by Chica and Henry, who had felt his overwhelming sadness and came to help, if they could.

Dogs were far, far too good for this world, Sean decided, letting Chica wash his ears in a soothing, motherly manner.

Amy patted him some more, and then Sean heard footsteps as her scent began to fade, presumably going back to check on Mark and make sure he _was_ actually still sleeping.

Sean let Chica and Henry nose at him some more, until they began to speak once again, Sean’s ears twitching in surprise. He wasn’t sure he was ever gonna get used to that.

“Are you okay, Sean?”

Sean blinked owlishly at them.

They knew his name? How? It wasn’t like he told them.. Or did he?

_“Mark! I’m right here! I’m Sean! I’m safe!”_

The memory slapped him right across the face, and he realized that when he’d said that, he didn’t exactly _think_ it; it was different. It was _speech_.

How the hell does he recreate it?

“I.. I don’t know.” Sean replied, or at least, he hoped he did.

He must have succeeded, because the dogs perked up at his words. Then, of course, deflated once they realized what he’d said.

“You’re him? I thought he was a human?” Henry nosed his way closer to Sean, sniffing at him experimentally, as if just by smelling him he’d magically change back into a human. _I wish,_ Sean thought sadly.

“I got turned into a dog.” His tail swung lazily behind him, and some part of him felt a wave of relief crash over him as he realized he did, in fact, have some people to talk to, even if they _were_ dogs.

“Vague.” Chica sniffed, but she swept her tail against his side. “You’re tired.”

 _Thanks, Captain Obvious,_ Sean thought sarcastically, but didn’t say anything out loud, just yawning to prove her point. “I’ve been sleeping all day.”

“Unlike humans, we sleep more, Sean.” Chica bumped her head against his shoulder. “C’mon, nap.”

Sean huffed softly, though let Chica lead him over to her big dog bed, where she laid down and thumped the spot next to her with his tail for Sean to lay down.

“Don’t take this lightly. I hate sharing my bed.” She dropped her head down, shutting her eyes, ending the conversation there.

Sean hesitated for a moment, then gladly padded onto the soft, thick bed with Chica, laying down and curling up next to her, hearing the clicking of claws and Henry padded off to find Amy.

Sean let the comforting softness of the bed and Chica’s warm body next to his wash over him, and he was out like a light within seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly just a filler chapter. I don't want to have a whole year buzz by too quick, y'know? haha
> 
> I don't want Sean to meet Spencer this early on, so I'm gonna have to ask y'all for suggestions! What are things I can have them do to fill in a year's worth of time? Something worth making a whole chapter about?


	8. Chapter VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The situation is much, much worse than Sean thought at first, and now, he just wants to come home.

Sean, despite being awake for only a little bit, found that he was still quite exhausted, and the next time he woke up, the sun was getting low and Mark was awake.

Chica was still curled up next to him in bed, eyes still shut and snoring softly into his ear, so Sean had to carefully weasel out of bed and not wake her. 

He managed to do so successfully, and padded over towards the open window, where Mark was standing, looking outside as if he were contemplating his existence. 

Sean sat down beside Mark, head just able to peek over the window and stare out with Mark, his tail waving happily when Mark reached down to pat his head.

“Amy says you really are a smart puppo.” Mark hummed, grinning down at Sean, who blinked back at him with wide blue eyes. 

“She said you can stay with us, just until we find you a home.. Okay?”

Sean made a small, pathetic sound at the thought of being given away, but he’d take what he could get. Besides, that meant he had some time to win them over, and convince them to keep him. No doubt their issue was having three dogs to take care of. Sean made a silent vow to take care of Henry and Chica for them; they weren’t gonna have to worry about Henry’s liquid poops anymore.

“Your eyes look so much like Sean’s, it’s a little creepy.” Mark commented, staring down at Sean, gazing into the intelligent blue eyes of the dog.

_ That’s kinda gay, Mark, _ Sean thought in amusement, dipping his head and nudging Mark’s thigh lightly. 

“I was supposed to record earlier, but ended up talking to Ethan for an hour instead.” Mark breathed out a laugh. “I have to make my video about Sean.. Ethan and I are both putting it off. I know the fans want us to say something about it, but hell.. Talking about it publicly makes it feel too real. I guess we’re still in denial. Don’t want him to be missing, y’know?”

Sean let out a soft whine in the back of his throat. His heart squeezed with pain at hearing how upset Mark and Ethan were about this. L.A. could be a scary place at night, especially to someone who didn’t know it well. They didn’t know if someone had broken in, or if Sean had went out real quick and gotten taken. Both  _ very  _ possible events. He could be dead, as far as they knew.

Sean shivered at the thought of being on Mark’s side of this. If one of his close friends had gone missing, in a city like this, he’d be freaking the hell out. 

_ I’m safe, Mark, I’m right here, don’t worry.. _

“You wanna help me make it?” Mark scratched Sean’s ears, smiling at how the dog’s tail immediately started thumping against the ground excitedly. 

Sean jumped at the idea of being able to help Mark with a video; he wanted to show his face to the internet, even if they didn’t know it was him they were looking at. 

With that, Mark left the window, Sean trailing after him as they walked back to Mark’s recording room together, Sean purposely padding lightly when passing the still-snoring Chica. The scent of Henry got stronger the closer he got to the bedroom, and peeking in the doorway as they passed by, he found Henry sleeping happily on the floor next to the bed. 

“C’mon,” Mark urged Sean into his padded recording room, and Sean marvelled at the tech inside. He had never actually been inside the room before, it was a bit overwhelming.

Mark made a beeline towards the corner of the room, where he had his lights stacked up next to one of the computers; no doubt Mark’s main one, Sean thought as he stared around at the other computers lining the area.

He padded up to Mark, sitting down next to the chair as Mark booted his computer, clicking the lights and cameras on. He waited patiently, and as Mark’s mouse hovered over ‘start recording’, he hesitated. 

Sean frowned. Mark was radiating guilt. Why was he guilty? None of this was his fault. If anything, it was Sean’s, even if he didn’t intend for this to happen.

Sean nudged Mark’s elbow with his nose, urging him to press the button. It would be okay, Sean would be there for support.

Mark took a deep breath, and clicked the mouse button.

After a moment of silence, staring at the numbers counting upwards, he started speaking, raising his gaze to the camera. Sean noted, with the slightest bit of amusement, the tips of his ears were visible just at the bottom of the screen. 

“Hello, everybody, my name is Markiplier, and.. This video should have come earlier, but I’ve just been spending the last week.. Processing this.”

Mark’s voice wasn’t anywhere near as chipper and warm as usual. It was worn down, gruff, tired. Mark suddenly looked exhausted, like he held the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

Sean dropped his head to nudge Mark’s knee gently for encouragement.  _ It’s okay, Mark.  _

Mark glanced down at Sean for a second, whispering, “Thanks, bub,” Before continuing his message.

“In case you aren’t in the know, my good friend, Sean, jacksepticeye, he, uh.. He went missing, a week ago.” Mark’s voice started getting shaky, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “They found blood in the apartment he was staying in. All- all over the floor, the bed. They think.. Everyone’s considering him de.. Dead.” 

Heart pounding in his ears, Sean stared wide-eyed up at Mark, who now had tears running down his cheeks. 

He didn’t know that.. Fuck, he didn’t know that! Why was there blood in his apartment? How the absolute fuck was there blood? He didn’t wake up with any injuries, he didn’t think.. He could have sworn he was just fine. 

Then again.. There was a large, large spot in his memory missing, from going to sleep in his bed and waking up in a park. He supposed..  _ Something  _ could have happened in that span of time. But, still, he would have felt something if he’d hurt himself, right?

Sean was forced to tear himself from his thoughts as Mark trudged on, despite the obvious pain he was feeling.

“I.. refuse to believe that, personally. God, I don’t want to believe it. There’s some form of my mind that’s convinced Sean is immortal, y’know? He can’t die. He can’t be dead, he’s too good. He’s such a beacon of light, that it shouldn’t be possible that he could die.” Mark let out a dry, humorless chuckle. 

Sean cringed. Mark must have been one of, if not, the first person to find the apartment like that. Hell, this was  _ so much _ scarier to them than he initially thought.

“I know.. Some of you know, already. Heard it on the news. Maybe I’m telling you all this for nothing, and you know already, and I’m just putting myself through needless torture by saying it all out loud.”

Mark choked on his words, and he rubbed his face, sniffing. 

“I’m sorry, this is so on-brand for me to be crying, huh?” Mark took a deep breath, “Basically, I’m.. I don’t think I’m gonna be making videos for a while. I don’t think I can handle acting happy-go-lucky and carefree with all this going on. God knows I’ve tried already. I’d rather put out no content, than forced content.”

Sean couldn’t help it, the thick scent of sadness swamped the air and constricted his lungs, and he needed to do something about it. He hopped up on his hind legs, pushing his face into Mark’s shoulder, paws draped across his lap. _ It’s okay, Mark, I promise. Not dead. It’s impossible to kill me. I  _ am  _ immortal! Promise! _

Mark leaned his head against Sean’s, letting the dog provide him comfort. 

“Ethan’s on the same boat, too.. He’s just.. It’s taking a little longer for him to make a video about it. Bob, Wade, and Robin are trying their hardest, but I’m sure you all noticed the dip in content there, too. Let us.. Just please, let us have silence for a little bit. Please.” Mark’s voice cracked at the end, and Sean whined. All his friends were suffering, and in extent, every fanbase of theirs were, too. 

And it was his fault. God.. he couldn’t have wished for a new watch, or something?

Mark patted Sean’s head, and sighed. “I’ll.. see you in the next one. Buh-bye.” And with that, he clicked ‘stop recording’, and let his head fall down on Sean’s.

Sean felt tears soaking his fur, but he didn’t care. He knew Mark crying was such a joke to most of the internet, but seeing the usually so happy, egotistical guy break over something Sean caused made his skin crawl. Mark didn’t deserve this sadness, he really didn’t.

_ It’s okay, Mark, I promise! I’m okay! I’m not dead, I’m not hurt, I’m just a smelly dog! You watched me piss, remember? It’s all good! _

Unfortunately, Mark couldn’t read minds, no matter how much Sean wished he could.

Sean didn’t know how long Mark cried, but he knew it was long enough for his legs to start to ache from standing so long, and by the time Mark gently pushed him down, his legs shook from the strain. 

Mark stood up, rubbing the tears from his eyes. “Ethan’s not doing too good, bub.” He croaked, voice raw and scratchy, the sound making Sean cringe. Mark’s voice sounded so.. Different when it wasn’t smooth and warm. It was heartbreaking. “I’m gonna go see him for a few hours.. Try and help him out. Amy is still gonna be here with you three, though. Help her out with Henry, he still has liquid poopies and isn’t giving us the best sleep.” Mark gave a forced chuckle, patting Sean’s head and walking out of the room.

Sean swallowed down a whine of protest, because  _ he _ wanted to see Ethan, too, and just followed Mark out of the room. Mark didn’t upload the video just yet, but Sean suspected he was hesitating because he may want to re-film it once he’s able to keep his thoughts under order. He could be wrong, though.

Mark stopped by the door to put on his shoes, when Sean remembered something, quickly grabbing the back of his shirt with his teeth and tugging on Mark before he could walk out, darting into the kitchen. 

He managed to stick his paw into the fridge handle and pull, opening the door and climbing up to grab a hold of a water bottle at the top shelf, grasping it gently so he didn’t damage it any, and kicked the door shut before making his way back to Mark.

Sean tucked the water bottle into Mark’s hand, urging him to grab it, letting out a soft rumbling noise (a dog-purr?) as he took it. Crying quickly dehydrates you, after all, and if Mark wasn’t gonna properly take care of himself, Sean would. 

Mark grinned down at him, patting his head again, causing Sean’s tail to wag lazily. “Thank you.” He cooed softly, then with that, opened the door and left. Moments later, Sean heard a car start (smart idea, he wasn’t sure that poor van would hold up), and he was gone.

Sean turned away from the door and paused.

Amy was.. Somewhere in the house, he didn’t know where exactly. Chica was asleep, and so was Henry. 

He had nothing else to do, really. Everything that came to mind required thumbs.

Sean made his way back into Mark’s recording room, and jumped up on his chair, facing the computer that was still turned on. 

This was gonna be hard, but he could surely try.

Thank God he still knew how to use a computer.

Sean nosed the mouse until it hovered over the internet, and raised his paw, slapping it down on the mouse button to click on it, and perked up as the internet opened. 

Maybe it  _ wouldn’t  _ be that hard.

He repeated the tactic over the search bar, and with his nose, tried to type in “ _ Tumblr _ ” (of course, it looked more like  _ ytuimbltr _ , but Google was educated in drunk-person speak, and it automatically directed to the website he was after. 

Bless drunk internet users.

Mark didn’t follow that many people, so finding his own account was a breeze, and using that, he located the  _ jacksepticeye  _ tag, and was immediately blown away by the amount of posts.

There were art compilations of him, art pieces of his egos ‘mourning’ him, posts talking about him and all the things he’s done to benefit them and their mentality, screenshots from other platforms of  _ celebrities  _ wishing him well and hoping he’d come home soon; Sean almost let out a loud, distraught sound as he read Bryan Dechart’s tweet thread listing everything he liked about Sean and all the good he’d done, and ending it with a hashtag.

_ #ComeBackHomeSean _

Sean didn’t dare search that tag, not yet. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle it. 

Sean dropped his head on the desk, eyes shutting as he let out shaky breaths. 

This was so, so much more serious than he thought. So much scarier than he’d thought. 

He wanted to go home, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rushed and sloppy, and not really all that good, lmao. Sorry about that! I'm trying to get this whole thing through so we can start with the fun things, the not-so-depressing chapters, featuring the five of them going on trips and hanging out as a family.
> 
> I don't have much of an aim for this, honestly. It's just gonna be some self-indulgence chapters of some wholesome times, and then eventually an end. I'm aiming for 30-40 chapters before the end, if I do three chapters for every month fic-time, for twelve months fic-time. There's probably gonna be ten chapters in February considering this is the eighth chapter and we're still in February, then after that, three or so chapters in March, April, May, etc., just so its not some ungodly length.


	9. Chapter IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sean finds that not everything is wholesome in the fandom, and spends a warm afternoon in the dog park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh im so sorry for the delay!! its been over a month since i updated and im so sorry :( christmas happened, and then i got hit with depression really hard in the beginning of 2019, and havent been able to finish this update til now. I hope y'all will forgive me!!
> 
> I hope this chapter is good! It's all over the place as all my chapters will be, but I hope its not too agonizing!

Amy found Sean like that, the dog resting his head atop the keyboard of the computer.

She gave a sad smile, and cooed to Sean as she pet his fur, eyes on the screen, that was still full of posts about Sean. The page was currently settled on one particular video that tons of fans had gotten together to create; like a YouTube Rewind, but for Sean’s videos and achievements.

“Mark must’ve been looking through it again, huh?” She murmured, more to herself than to Sean.

Sean’s ears pricked. Mark looked through his tag? Often, it seemed, or else she wouldn’t have said it like that. 

Something about that made his heart squeeze and he realized he hadn’t looked at Mark’s blog; he wondered if Mark had posted anything there about him yet. He wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t, if his recording said anything.

He didn’t have to wonder for long, though, because Amy seemed to be wondering about Mark’s blog too. 

She glanced at Sean as she clicked on his profile. “Don’t take this as me being a stalker girlfriend, I promise I don’t usually do this.” She smiled, scratching his cheek. If Sean could, he would chuckle to lighten the mood, but alas, he couldn’t, so he just thumped his tail lightly against the chair in reply.

When Mark’s Tumblr blog loaded, Sean saw that it was mostly filled with art of him and Sean together, or even just art of Sean alone, and it made his tail curl in warmth. Typically they avoided reblogging things not themed around themselves, he wasn’t entirely sure why; perhaps it was a branding thing.

As Amy scrolled further, Sean saw a post that was almost entirely large, bolded letters, and he felt his heart sink. That almost always meant a hate post of some sort.

Amy hadn’t seen this post, clearly, and her eyebrows furrowed as they began to read together.

** somerandomasshole: **

You know, for a guy that claims Sean is his best friend, he really is keeping quiet on the situation, huh?

If Mark was REALLY Sean’s best friend, he would have talked about it the day of it happening, and wouldn’t have put it off for so long. It’s been a week, and while millions of fans around the world are slaving away trying to find him, Mark is being radio silent and probably sitting on his ass playing video games.

He’s not a real friend of Sean’s. I tried telling you all Mark was a terrible person, and this is just the icing on the cake, maybe you’ll start to believe me now. _#MarkiplierIsCancelled_

Sean, fuming, was already starting to growl, and then Amy scrolled down further, showing Mark’s reply to it, and Sean had to force his fur to lie flat again as he read.

** markiplier: **

YOU don’t get to tell me how I grieve. How do you know what I’ve been doing this past week? You’re just ASSUMING, aren’t you? 

For your fucking information, I have been pushing myself to my limit trying to find him myself. How would YOU feel if you walked into your best friends apartment, only HOURS after you last saw him, and found the place covered in blood with him nowhere to be seen? How do you know I haven’t been blaming myself every second? How do you know I haven’t been a mess, in tears because I feel like if I had manned up and asked to stay over for the night like I’d been tempted to, MAYBE this wouldn’t have happened to him?

I have been silent up until this point because I am GRIEVING. This is MY WAY to grieve. I have to process all of this, I have to come to terms with the fact this is real life and I have to realize the possibility of him not coming back. 

Go ahead and cancel me all you want. I don’t fucking care. But don’t go around assuming and spreading rumors that I’ve done absolutely nothing for Sean when I am ready and willing to lay my life down if it meant bringing him back, because that isn’t something a fucking fan would do.

Good day.

Just as Sean finished reading Mark’s reply, Amy clicked away, and she shook herself. “Why don’t we go for a walk, huh?” She spoke quickly, and Sean could smell the bitter scent of anger radiating off her in waves. He couldn’t blame her; he was just as pissed. “Distract ourselves for a little while.”

Sean couldn’t argue, mostly because no, he really couldn’t argue, he was a dog, and hopped down from the chair to follow Amy out of the room, his neck fur still bristling in irritation. When he gained thumbs, he was gonna have quite a few words to say to that specific person.

Chica and Henry, either oblivious to their annoyance or merely uncaring of it, wagged their tails in response to their presence, and Amy clicked the leash onto both of their collars, and looking over at Sean with a frown on her face. 

“We don’t have a spare leash.. Perhaps we should go buy one, huh?” She murmured, but Sean merely shook his head, Amy blinking in shock at his refusal. Whether it was because he answered her or because he said no, Sean wasn’t sure. She shrugged, and walked over to the door to put on her shoes. “Let’s go to the dog park. Get you three some friends. Don’t want to end up like us antisocial losers, huh?”

Sean tried to seem enthusiastic about it, pushing aside the thoughts about his disappearance. It’s not like he could do anything, anyway, he has no  _ fucking thumbs _ .

So, he followed behind as Chica and Henry were led out to the van, as Mark had the car, and hopped inside of it along with them. Amy seemed happy with his behavior, shutting the door and climbing into the driver’s seat. “Mark is probably staying at Ethan’s place for a while, and I don’t know if Ethan or Mika has Spencer..” She murmured to herself as she started the vehicle, while it sputters as it starts. 

Sean’s ears perked up. Spencer! He only just met the dog a couple months back when Ethan brought him in during his Christmas charity livestream, a cute little mix breed puppy that energy just as high as his owners. He wouldn’t mind meeting the pup again, considering he’s only ever interacted with him once. He wasn’t sure how Spencer would react, though. After all, the pup was shy when it came to other dogs. He was a little hesitant around Henry and Chica, and they were two of the sweetest, most gentle dogs Sean had ever had the pleasure of meeting.

He almost hoped the pup was at the park. He’d love to help him feel more at ease around other dogs. It would let him do something helpful while he was stuck in this body.

Almost toppling over when Amy started moving, Sean, now clean enough to actually move around the van without getting it gross, padded around to the mini fridge and tv, curling up next to it and allowing Henry and Chica to have more room around them. He wasn’t sure how crowded the park was gonna be. It was darkening, but it was also the weekend and this past winter had been warm, even by L.A.’s standards, so there were people flocking the streets when it got dark more than when the sun was beating down on their backs. 

He found that, as they arrived, the dog park was nearly filled to the brim. At least twenty dogs were jumping around and playing in the big dog area, and in the little dog area, were either puppies or just small-sized dogs. He noticed there was someone observing; probably to make sure the big dogs didn’t go into the little dog section, and vice-versa. 

Amy got out of the van, opening the door and grabbing Chica and Henry’s leashes. Henry already seemed too nervous to function, trembling slightly as his wide eyes scanned the large crowd of dogs. Sean couldn’t blame him, the poor dog had anxiety and now he was being bombarded with a bunch of smells of other unfamiliar dogs? His own eyes were watering at the intensity of the smell, he couldn’t imagine how Henry felt. 

Chica didn’t seem to mind, however, hopping out of the van and waiting patiently for Sean and Henry to exit as well, something Henry seemed nervous about doing. 

Sean padded up next to him, nosing Henry’s shoulder gently, urging the dog to look at him.

“It’ll be alright,” He soothed, “I won’t let any other dog hurt you.”

Somehow, Henry seemed to believe him, lowering his head as he hopped out of the van, Sean following close behind.

Amy seemed surprised; Sean didn’t doubt the possibility that Henry often took quite a bit of coaxing to leave the van, typically.

She shut the van doors, leading Henry, Chica, and Sean towards the big dog area. Chica nosed at the wire mesh fences until they reached the gates, Amy pushing them open to let the dogs inside, shuffling in herself and trying to prevent any other dogs from rushing out. 

Sean followed Amy as she skirted around the playing dogs and headed towards an empty bench, unclicking Henry and Chica’s leashes.

Amy sat down at the bench, watching Chica immediately wander off to mingle with the other dogs, and Henry squatted at the human’s feet.

If Sean could sigh, he would, padding towards the cowering dog. 

“C’mon, I’ll mingle with you.” He nosed Henry’s ear, “No one here’s gonna hurt you intentionally. They just want to play. You’re gonna be okay.”

Henry blinked up at him, brown eyes wide, and let out a soft whine. “How do you know?”

Sean flicked his tail, gesturing over at the woman observing the dogs. “She’s watching to make sure no one gets hurt. That’s how I know. And if a fight breaks out, I’ll protect you. You, and Chica both.”

Henry sniffed, but stood on shaky legs, tucking himself into Sean’s side. Sean was still slightly larger than both Chica and Henry, which allowed Henry to hide himself slightly in Sean’s dark colored fur. 

Sean swept his tail along Henry’s side, shuffling over towards Chica, where she was laying in the mud with one of her dog friends, a chocolate brown labrador, who had gray speckling his face; his age was probably why he wasn’t running around and jumping with the others, Sean realized. Henry probably would be better with older, more mellow dogs to start socializing with. 

Chica lifted her head as she scented Sean and Henry, ears perking up at their arrival, fur prickling in surprise. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting Henry to leave Amy’s side. 

“Henry! This is Bruce! Bruce, this is my brother that I was talking about.”

Obviously feeling a little shy, and slightly embarrassed (but not in a bad way) about being introduced as Chica’s brother, Henry lowered his head further than it already was in a move of respect towards the older dog. He didn’t say anything, however, and Sean gently thumped him with his tail, urging him to speak.

“Hello,” Henry sheepishly spoke, but Bruce didn’t seem to mind.

Bruce’s tail wagged lightly in greeting, and nodded to Sean as well.

Sean dipped his head in a similar greeting of respect. He was raised to respect his elders, after all. “Hello, pleasure to meet you. I’m Sean.”

“Someone was raised formal.” Bruce rumbled, amusement in his tone. His voice was gravelly and deep, taking Sean by surprise. He didn’t know why, he just assumed all dogs would sound young and chipper and happy forever. Such a gruff voice coming from a sweet-looking dog was a little off-putting, to say the least. Still, he didn’t seem unfriendly. 

“I just like being respectful, especially to those older than I am, who, in some cases, are far wiser than me.” Sean replied easily. It was true, he was generally respectful to anyone anyway, but he gave a higher degree of respect to those significantly older than him. After all,  _ most  _ older people were wiser than he could ever hope to be.

(Most, because Catholic southern grandmas could be a little too judge-y sometimes.)

Bruce gave a small sniff of approval, and gestured for Henry to come nearer, which he did, after making sure Sean would go with him. “I’m not very scary,” He promised the dog, who was still clearly unsure about the lab, who was a bit bigger and more muscular than Henry was, who had taken more after the cattle dog sizing and was smaller than the three other dogs there. 

“He’s very, very shy.” Chica chipped in, pointing out the obvious as Bruce rose to his feet, lumbering over to Henry and sniffing his ears. “There’s a group of other shy pups over there,” He nodded his head towards a pile of young-looking dogs in the corner, who seemed to be sticking to themselves and playing with a ball amongst themselves rather than socializing. “Let me introduce you to them. I promise you’ll be okay. They’re all friendly youngsters.”

Henry, after glancing nervously at Sean, nodded his head and followed Bruce as he led him over to the other dogs, who seemed nervous at the newcomer at first, but upon seeing Henry was just as shy as they were, were more than happy to include him into the play. Sean realized it was like he saw with humans; they had anxiety about doing things, but as soon as they see someone else having anxiety, their own anxiety is overridden to make the other person more comfortable.

Happy to see Henry was starting to warm up to them, too, Sean sat down next to Chica, who was still lounging in the shade. 

“Thank you for helping him be more social,” She spoke after a minute of silence, watching Henry smack the soccer ball into a puppy’s foot and making himself comfortable. “I don’t know how you did it. No one is usually able to get Henry to socialize, not even mom.”

Sean dipped his head in slight embarrassment, ears warming. He’ll have to tell Mark and Amy that their dogs call them dad and mom, respectively; it was just too cute. “All I did was offer to be by his side. Sometimes, we just need someone to stand by our side and help us walk before we start to run.”

Chica snorted. “You’re so philosophical.” She dropped her head on her paws, letting out a breath as the warm breeze ran through her fur. 

“And you know too many big words for a dog.” Sean shot back, flopping on his side next to Chica, seeing Amy take out her phone from the corner of his eye, aiming it on them. He wondered what a picture they made. He wondered how the  _ fans  _ would react to  _ him _ . Perhaps they would think Amy and Mark got a new dog? It wouldn’t be far off from the truth. Whether they wanted him or not, Sean wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon. 

He sighed, his own eyes shutting as he basked in the comfortable warmth of the setting sun. 

If he was gonna be spending the next year, or even the rest of his life, as a dog, he hoped it would be spent like this; surrounded by his friends.


	10. Chapter X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sean takes care of Henry, meets Spencer, and accidentally gives Mark and Ethan heart attacks. At least the bench didn't rudely wake him with phone cameras and incoherent babbling about how cute he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so sorry about the delay :'( I got absolutely DEMOLISHED by mental health issues and I forced myself to sit down and write a whole chapter in one go just now. This is un-Beta'd; I slapped this down on Docs, then copied and pasted here. Didn't proofread, so there are bound to be mistakes.   
> Again, filler chapters. There's no real plot to this fic lol it's gonna be short, meaningless ditties like this until I decide I'm done

Sean lifted his head, sleepily blinking at the stumbling dark form coming nearer to him, a smaller one following swiftly behind.

Mark had come back that night when Amy took them home, and they had gone straight to bed; and so did the dogs. They didn’t eat a proper dinner, but Sean did manage to force a packet of crackers into Mark’s hand to eat, which he did, so he supposed he could forgive that.

Sean knew he wasn’t asleep for long, so why was Mark lumbering towards him, Henry in tow?

The half-asleep man walked past Sean, however, and led Henry towards the backdoor, which he pulled open and ushered Henry out. As the dog did so, Mark sighed heavily, giving out an exhausted yawn and leaning heavily against the wall.

Sean vaguely remembered Mark mentioning that Henry was having digestive issues and often woke them multiple times a night to go out, and he frowned. Or, as much as a dog could frown. 

Mark was clearly tired, and wasn’t getting much sleep at night as it was. Henry constantly waking him up to go outside absolutely wasn’t helping. 

After Mark brought Henry back in, and the dog curled back up on the floor, Mark went stumbling back to his room to fall asleep again, and Sean, too, fell into a light sleep, keeping his ears pricked and alert just in case.

It wasn’t long after, perhaps just a couple hours, that Sean heard shuffling, and he opened his eyes to see Henry pulling himself up and starting to wander back into Mark’s room, so he pulled himself to his feet, stretching his legs before padding over to Henry, cutting him off from waking Mark and/or Amy up.

“Come on, I’ll take you out,” He lightly turned Henry around, sensing the dog’s confusion before he spoke. 

“But only mom and dad can open the doors..?” Henry sleepily whined, but followed Sean anyway, too tired to argue, presumably.

Sean didn’t reply, pulling himself up on his hind legs, using his paws to push against the handle of the sliding door, his weight easily helping him to push it open wide enough for Henry to slip through.

The dog did so, after a bewildered glance in Sean’s direction, and Sean waited there until Henry came padding back in to shut the door.

“Try not to wake them up, they don’t get a lot of sleep as it is.” Sean fell back on all fours, curling up next to the door. 

“But then I have to wake you,” Henry replied, cocking his head to the side, and Sean flicked his tail dismissively. 

“I don’t care. I can just nap throughout the day.” He nodded his head towards Henry’s bed, “You go sleep.”

Henry nodded, and with one last confused look, padded back over to his bed and laid down, allowing Sean a couple more hours of rest.

This had repeated a few times throughout the night, and Sean felt more tired than he had in a while, but when Mark came waddling out of his room, towel around his neck and catching the water dripping from his hair (the extreme smell of soap radiating from him led Sean to believe he’d just left the shower), looking more well rested than usual, Sean felt it was worth it to allow Mark and Amy to sleep. And so he dropped his head against Chica’s cushion-y bed, ignoring her grunt of displeasure, and fell asleep.

* * *

The next few weeks were relatively the same. Wake up, go for walks, eat, nap, play, eat, nap some more, gofor another walk (sometimes go to the dog park), sleep, deal with Henry, repeat. 

Sean quickly realized life as a dog was very routine and got boring after a while. Whenever something new happened, which wasn’t too often, was very exciting. 

Fortunately, today was one of those days.

Sean had just finished his breakfast, legs aching after the morning walk, when there was a sudden barrage of doorbell ringings, followed by knocking in a purposely annoying manner.

Ethan.

Sean’s ears perked, sitting up straight in his new bed (a nice green color, too). Chica immediately started barking, her natural instinct when faced with a knock at the door, and started zooming around the room, tail wagging in an obscene amount of excitement. Henry just hid behind the couch, but he let out tiny yips and his tail-tip was wiggling.

Mark let out an over-exaggerated groan, and Sean watched him lumber over to the door and swing it open.

View of Ethan was blocked from Mark’s broad ass shoulders, but Sean could see the nervous puppy from his side that was radiating anxiety.

Sean’s eyes lit up. Spencer!

Chica recognized that he was nervous, so she didn’t swarm him, but she did weasel her way forwards to sniff him a bit before backing off again; and Henry just kept away altogether. 

Sean’s tail began to swing lazily back and forth without his realizing. “Hi!” His tone came out excited, the loudness of it startling the puppy (curse his natural loud Irishness), but Spencer was quick to calm as curiosity came over him instead. The pup had been here before, but he didn’t remember Sean; just Henry and Chica.

Spencer nosed at Sean’s feet, the latter staying still so he didn’t startle him, letting Spencer sniff him and get comfortable before he spoke again.

“What’s your name?” Spencer questioned, and Sean realized Spencer’s voice was almost exactly how he’d pictured; high-pitched, with a slight Australian accent (presumably from the Aussie in his breed mix). 

“Sean, or Jack. Either is fine.” Sean replied, lowering his head to allow Spencer to better reach his face. He wasn’t sure if Spencer had any German Shepherd in him at all, but if he did, he could basically be his dad.

He would be an  _ actual  _ dog dad.

That sounds amazing.

“Okay, Jack.” Spencer cocked his head away from Sean as Mark and Ethan drew near, though rather than being focused on Spencer, they had their gazes trained on Sean.

“He’s certainly pretty,” Ethan cooed, holding his hand out for Sean to sniff, which he did, giving Ethan the OK to pet him. He supposed they were talking about him.

Sean angled his head upwards so Ethan could scratch his chin, absently listening to them talking about him, how he showed up and his odd, human-like habits and tendencies (if only they knew).

When Ethan and Mark finally left, heading into the recording room, Sean made a decision after seeing Spencer jump high in the air as Henry peeked out from behind the couch, startled by the sudden appearance.

He was gonna be this dog’s second dad.

Seeing as how their routine called for naps, Chica and Henry promptly curled up, fully intending on sticking to that routine, and quickly fell asleep, and Sean was left with a socially anxious puppy.

He wasn’t gonna lie, a little bit awkward.

“So.. You wanna.. Play or something?” Sean tried, feeling the tension grow. He hadn’t actually  _ played  _ like Chica and Henry do when playtime comes, but he wanted to try and bond with Spencer and he assumed this was the best approach. He was basically a little kid.

Thankfully, Spencer was also desperate to kill the awkward energy, and was quick to agree; and Sean soon found himself with a tennis ball in his mouth, running around the couch with Spencer on his tail.

His muscles still ached from his walk, but it wasn’t unbearable, and he managed a few laps before he tripped over the rug and fell on his face, the ball flying across the room where Spencer went running after it, leaving Sean to try and get back up.

Spencer came padding back with the ball in his mouth, tail wagging like mad. His eyes were bright, and as he began to taunt Sean into chasing him again, he decided to just deal with the aches. After all, who could say no to Spencer’s puppy eyes?

Mark wasn’t totally sure what he was gonna find, walking out of the recording room with Ethan. He hadn’t intended to leave the dogs alone as long as he did; it’d been two hours since he left them. 

Jack was an incredibly well-behaved dog (suspiciously smart, too), and he knew Chica wouldn’t hurt a fly, and Henry was too nervous to go near people sometimes, so he wasn’t too concerned, but still.. Who knows?

Ethan seemed to share his concerns, at least.

“I’m not saying you have bad dogs or anything,” He started, “But I hope they’re all okay. We left them there for a while.”

“I think if something happened that we couldn’t hear, Amy would have intervened. She can see them pretty clear through the garden.” Mark replied. Which was true. Even if said garden was off a bit from the glass doors, she would know if they had gotten violent or anything (which he highly doubted).

“True,” Ethan agreed, “I don’t think there would be anything wrong, anyway.. They’re all sweethearts. Even if Jack tends to be a little weird.”

“ _ ‘Weird’ _ is an understatement. Yesterday he accidentally knocked over a glass of water on the rug and he actually got a paper towel from the kitchen counter and tried soaking it up.”

“You’re dissing a dog for doing housework?”

“No! It’s just not very  _ dog _ -like, y’kno-”

Mark cut himself off, choking on his words as the dogs came into view. 

Chica and Henry were still sleeping in their individual beds, but Jack, resting in his emerald green bed, had Spencer resting atop his back, head lolled over and almost looking like a blanket to Jack. Both of them were sleeping deeply, a drool-covered fox toy laying next to them.

“Oh my God,” Ethan whispered, “I’m going to shit myself.”

“Do it on the hardwood floor, not the carpet.” Mark replied, pulling out his phone and promptly taking a dozen pictures.

Sean woke up to the blinding light of Mark’s flash in his eyes and Ethan having a mental breakdown.

On second thought, maybe he’d rather be under a bench.


End file.
